Recipe
[Special Talk] Making Chef a Dream Job for Kids! Tempura Legend Kusunoki's New Path for Chefs
![[Special Talk] Making Chef a Dream Job for Kids! Tempura Legend Kusunoki's New Path for Chefs](https://img.youtube.com/vi/N-xvZ3NCt-E/hqdefault.jpg)
Ingredients
- Splendidalfonsino: 1 fish (sized to eat by hand)
- Vegetables(various, unspecified)
- Purpleasparagus from Assabu, Hokkaido: to taste
- Kurumaprawns: several
- Eggplant:1
- Sakurashrimp: to taste
- Simmeredvegetable sauce: to taste
- DomPérignon 2010: for pairing
About "Assorted Tempura Course (Splendid Alfonsino, Purple Asparagus, Bara Tendon)"
A special course hosted by Chef Tadashi Kusunoki of the renowned tempura restaurant Kusunoki for guest Naoyuki Honda. It showcases the artisan's philosophy and techniques, including a batter that thoroughly extracts moisture from splendid alfonsino, purple asparagus developed over four years, and a bara tendon designed to pair with champagne. Instead of traditional tempura dipping sauce, a thick simmered vegetable sauce is used to bring out the natural flavors of the ingredients.
Tips for Making "Assorted Tempura Course (Splendid Alfonsino, Purple Asparagus, Bara Tendon)"
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Moisture Control
- For fatty fish like splendid alfonsino, it is crucial to thoroughly extract moisture during frying. Frying until a crackling sound is heard ensures no excess oil remains, highlighting the natural umami of the fish's fat.
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Fresh Batter
- A dedication to making a completely new batch of batter for each dish. This unconventional craftsmanship achieves the optimal batter condition for every ingredient.
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Sauce Selection
- Instead of traditional tempura sauce, a thick simmered vegetable sauce is used. This prevents the ingredients' flavors from escaping into the liquid and creates a perfect marriage with Dom Pérignon.
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Ingredient Sourcing
- Collaborated with Jet Farm in Assabu, Hokkaido, over four years to cultivate purple asparagus. The tips have low moisture and a highly aromatic, premium quality.
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Serving & Eating
- The bara tendon is designed to be eaten with a spoon, allowing multiple ingredients to harmonize in the mouth. This approach is highly popular among international guests.
Ingredients for "Assorted Tempura Course (Splendid Alfonsino, Purple Asparagus, Bara Tendon)"
8 items* Tap ingredient names to find on Amazon
How to Make "Assorted Tempura Course (Splendid Alfonsino, Purple Asparagus, Bara Tendon)"
- 1
Prep the splendid alfonsino and mix the flour, egg, and water for the batter.
- 2
Coat the alfonsino in batter and fry while adjusting the oil temperature.
- 3
Continue frying until the moisture is completely extracted and a crackling sound is heard.
- 4
Hold the fried alfonsino by hand and lightly coat with the simmered vegetable sauce.
- 5
Make a fresh batch of batter specifically for the purple asparagus.
- 6
Fry the purple asparagus and pair with the simmered vegetable sauce.
- 7
Fry the kuruma prawns, eggplant, asparagus, and sakura shrimp at their respective optimal temperatures.
- 8
Beautifully scatter the fried ingredients over rice to assemble the bara tendon.
- 9
Arrange for easy eating with a spoon and serve at a temperature optimized for pairing with Dom Pérignon.
Food Science
Frying until moisture is completely extracted concentrates the natural umami of the ingredients. Additionally, combining the inosinate in splendid alfonsino and kuruma prawns with the glutamate in vegetables like asparagus and eggplant creates a synergistic umami effect. Furthermore, heating at the appropriate temperature efficiently evaporates moisture from the batter to create a crispy texture while locking in the ingredients' flavors.
Detailed Commentary on "Assorted Tempura Course (Splendid Alfonsino, Purple Asparagus, Bara Tendon)"
* Content organized by topics from the video.
Ultimate Focus on Alfonsino and Batter
Chef Kusunoki's splendid alfonsino tempura is served to be eaten directly by hand. For fatty fish, if excess oil remains in the batter, the natural umami of the fish's fat is lost. Therefore, the technique of thoroughly extracting moisture during frying (indicated by a crackling sound) is crucial. The second dish is paired with a 'simmered vegetable sauce' served since the restaurant's founding. The slightly caramelized, savory sauce creates a perfect marriage with Dom Pérignon 2010. The chef's unconventional dedication is shown by making a completely new batch of batter for every single ingredient. Mr. Honda is deeply impressed by how the sweetness and umami are drawn out.
Why Naoyuki Honda Started Cooking at 55
Despite eating sushi 150 times a year, Mr. Honda could not cook at all until two years ago. To discuss food on equal terms with top chefs, he wanted to learn cooking by age 50, but Japan only had long-term culinary schools or home cooking classes, and he wanted something in between. During the pandemic, he learned of a school where one could learn to make sushi in two months. Shocked by a beautiful bara-chirashi made by a graduate at a friend's house on New Year's Eve three years ago, he decided to enroll with Chef Ishida and Sommelier Okoshi. He shares how he discovered the joy of cooking, which has now expanded to tacos, pizza, spice school, and training in India.
Assabu Asparagus and the Bond with Growers
Premium asparagus grown by 'Jet Farm' in Assabu, Hokkaido. Actually, the farm only grew green asparagus until Chef Kusunoki suggested purple. Unable to forget the taste of purple asparagus grown by a farmer in Gifu during his Nagoya days, he proposed it to Jet Farm after moving to Tokyo. Visiting the farm during a staff trip four years ago, they secured one lane of the field exclusively for 'Kusunoki,' finally harvesting it after four years. The tips have low moisture and a very rich aroma. Paired with the special simmered vegetable sauce, it creates an exquisite pairing with Dom Pérignon, which Mr. Honda highly praises, saying, 'I want to take this sauce home and pair it with boiled tofu.'
Kusunoki's Refusal to Serve Tempura Sauce
Chef Kusunoki explains why he has refused to serve traditional tempura dipping sauce (tentsuyu) since opening. Dipping tempura into thin sauce allows the ingredient's flavor to escape into the liquid. While the sauce itself becomes tastier the more it is used, it is ultimately thrown away, which he felt was wasteful. This realization led him to create a 'thick simmered sauce' that retains the umami. Initially, customers aggressively demanded traditional sauce, but he stood his ground. Mr. Honda agrees, saying, 'If you cater too much to customer demands, you end up with something average that doesn't resonate with anyone. The power to say no is necessary,' as they discuss the importance of sticking to their culinary beliefs.
Champagne-Paired Bara Tendon and Sho Course
The finale, a bara tendon, features beautifully scattered kuruma prawns, eggplant, asparagus, and sakura shrimp, crafted to pair perfectly with Dom Pérignon. Eating it with a spoon allows the flavors of various ingredients to unite in the mouth—a 'complete bite in a spoon' impossible with chopsticks, which is highly popular among international guests. The 'Sho Course' offered at the Nakameguro location is fried by two apprentices who have inherited his techniques. Starting in staggered shifts of four guests at 17:00 and 18:00, it keeps the base course compact (8 dishes) while offering high flexibility to freely choose additional items (6–7 dishes) to meet modern needs.
Food Communities and a Global Perspective
Food is not just a meal, but a way of life. Rather than chefs maintaining cozy relationships only within their own industry, receiving different stimuli and creating chemical reactions leads to evolution. He also questions why Japanese restaurants are filled mostly with Japanese customers, arguing they should aim to attract guests from all over the world, like three-star restaurants in Paris. As part of this, he discusses 'dynamic pricing' introduced after the pandemic. While international guests accept it as a matter of course, there is still resistance in Japan. However, he expresses his determination to continue this fair challenge to break new ground in the industry.
Why He Started YouTube & the Future of Chefs
Chef Kusunoki's true purpose in starting YouTube is not to attract customers, but to send a message to restaurant staff and the younger generation aspiring to be chefs. The working conditions (salary, holidays, benefits) in Japan's restaurant industry cannot be called the best in the world. At Kusunoki, they have achieved a 'two-day weekend' and an 'average of 6 hours of overtime per month,' allowing staff to use their free time for personal training and learning. He believes individuals cannot grow unless the company creates such time. To make chef a 'world-class profession' that children dream of without parental opposition, Chef Kusunoki is dedicating his life to structural reform of the industry—a passion Mr. Honda deeply resonates with as they conclude the talk.
About くすのきチャンネル
くすのきチャンネル
3,270人 subscribers ・ 天ぷら／和食
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